Miss Patty Cake and The Resurrection Eggs

Last week I found this Miss Patty Cake book while we were at the library. I thought it would be great seeing as Easter was right around the corner. I have no previous Miss Patty Cake experience but have heard of her and know she does great stuff. Well, I just had no idea how much Mac would love the book. He loved it so much that we went out and bought the Resurrection Eggs to go along with the book. Reading and going through the eggs has become the highlight of his day. He calls them his "rection eggs," and he even sleeps with the book in his bed at night. Yes, that big ol hardcover book goes right in the bed with him! We have read the book so many times now that he recites the words right along with me. He understands as much as any two-year old would, but I think its a great little tradition to begin :) And he surely understands more about Easter now than if we had not gotten the book. Now the only problem is that he will be devastated when we have to return the book on Monday! I need to find some more Miss Patty Cake goods!

Easter Eggs and Goose Eggs

On Tuesday night, our Easter egg dyeing process began. I had promised Mac that we would dye eggs that day, so when Sam had to stay late at work, we began without him. That is why I don't have great pictures...trying to dye eggs with a two-year old and take pictures by yourself is just asking for a permanently color-stained disaster! But we sure persevered and had ourselves a good ol time. When we took Mac to Build-A-Bear for "Loochie Monkey", he received a free egg dye kit, so you best believe that's what we used! haha

Getting ready with our eggs

Drew was right in the mix with us, sitting in his chair with a nice, clean plastic egg :)

Coloring with the "magic" crayon. We made an egg for everyone in our family and one for Mac's best friend, and cousin, Parker.

Patiently waiting for the eggs to dye

Still waiting...

Our beautiful, bright eggs! Ready for stickers on another day when they are good and dry. Bedtime came soon after this process, so we wrapped it up for the day!

So...in the meantime, Wednesday was much too busy a day for us to fit in putting stickers on the eggs. We had lots of errands and church. Well, while at Awana, Mac had a little run in with a rocking chair and received a huge black and blue goose egg, right smack between his eyes :( He was pretty tough about it and proudly reinacts the scenario, complete with him falling down! So, now we not only have Easter Eggs, we have a great big goose egg for Easter!

See that big bruise poking up???

Close up for you

So, when we finished up our eggs on Thursday, he had a nice looking shiner. Just what you want for your Easter pics!

Putting on our stickers. And now our eggs are appearing to be dyed a nice tye-dyed color.

Showing off our work. (and that is what we call Mac's "crazy hair" haha)

So proud of his eggs and his new Easter basket from Aunt Cheryl

The process is now complete! And Mac got so sad when I cracked and peeled an egg for him to try a bite. So the rest are sitting nice and snug in the fridge.

My Drumming Ragamuffins

Mac is obsessed with drums and plays his drums multiple times a day. He is teaching his love for the beat with Drew, who happily takes lessons :) Music time is loud up in our house! haha

Anything can become a drum for Mac!

He is serious about his "drum sticks"


Sweet ragamuffin brothers enjoying a day at home

9 Months...Already!!

Thanks, Ikea, for a stool that has helped both boys reach a milestone :) Since our activity table is tightly packed up in storage in MS, this stool has to make do until we can get our hands on one...hey, whatever works!

Though rolling, very quickly might I add, is Drew's preferred mode of transporting, he can get up on all fours. He can scoot himself backwards but can't quite go forward yet. My roly poly gets where he needs to go, and it is quite a sight to watch him roll all over the place and in every direction :)

Just a sweet face all of the time.

I cannot believe he is already 9 months! His first birthday will be here before I am ready!

Well, this face just cracked me up, so I had to include it :)

Snaggle Tooth

Look REAL close on the bottom left and you will see Drew's very first tooth! I couldn't believe it when it first popped out, and its twin is starting to make an appearance also. My boy is ready for some real food! haha This same big, wide open mouth is what you get when he leans in to kiss you, a new trick that he just started doing. Its quite a slobbery, wet kiss, but one I will take any day! :)
(I will work on a pic where you can see that tooth a little bit better.)

Bye, Bye, Loochie!

Mac has mastered every big boy skill that is out there, shooting hoops, talking nonstop, going to Awana, working the remote with perfection, and going potty :) But there was one "baby" thing Mac was holding onto, and we were letting him-his loochie (aka pacifier). That is, up until Friday! For all of you with an open gasping mouth, save some air for the rest of us and let me explain...You see, we had long ago banned the loochie from all activity except bedtime, and my master plan was to have the loochie long gone by the time Drew was born. However, he just wasn't ready, and to be real honest, I wasn't either. The transition of bringing home a new baby was quite an adjustment for everyone, Mac included. So we decided to let him keep it for sleeping for a bit longer. Well, you know how that goes, a bit longer turned into months! We just finally decided that it had to end and picked Friday for the day :)

I had an idea, and a pretty darn good one if I do say so myself, to go to Build-A-Bear and treat Mac to a new stuffed animal. The catch is, he had to stuff his loochie into his animal and say "bye, bye" forever. Then, he would have a great new toy to take to bed in place of his loochie. (Now, I must give Elmo credit when credit is due. My mom bought the Elmo DVD "Bye, Bye Pacifier" for Mac months ago to help him get ready to get rid of his loochie. And good ol Elmo did help prep his mind for the day.) We had a great time at Build-A-Bear choosing his animal and then an outfit to go along. We lovingly named his new monkey "Loochie." He was so proud of himself that he is such a big boy. In fact, if you ask him, he will quickly tell you his name is "Mac Big Boy." haha

Now, for the rest of the story that I know you are waiting to hear. Yes, the first couple of nights were a little tough. He cried and asked for his loochie, but by night 3, he was able to lay down and get to sleep without all of the drama :)

A bit overwhelmed by all of the choices...and so was I!

Putting in his loochie, a huge milestone for Mac! I expected him to quickly change his mind and reach back in for it, but he didn't. He just continued on with the process.

Stepping on the pedal, helping stuff his monkey.

After he hugged and kissed the little heart that goes inside, he gave "Loochie" a hug :)

Giving Loochie a blow dry and brush time

Mac kissing his new best friend who is sporting a great-looking NBA basketball uniform, complete with headband and wristbands, and a basketball. Mac easily made the selection of basketball gear.

Having fun! Loochie goes everywhere with Mac ever since we brought him home. You can feel the real loochie in the back of "monkey Loochie's" head.

Full view of our furry new friend.

Just letting ya know that Drew was with us too, proudly sucking his real loochie; I am sure, thankful that he doesn't yet have to give his up :)

Enjoying a big boy lunch with Daddy while sitting in his big boy booster seat.

My, oh, my, my sweet "Baby Mac" is officially baby no more. Where does the time go?!

Way to go Mac Big Boy!!!!

St. Patrick's Day Fun

The boys at the Landing

Yesterday Sam and I decided to load up the boys and get out of the house to enjoy the great weather (additional motivation was the fact that the boys and I had been cooped up inside the house for several days in a row! haha) Since it was St. Patrick's Day, I, of course, declared we all HAD to wear something green; forget the fact that I have no idea why we celebrate this day! Well, after my declaration of green attire, I discovered the only green item I had in my closet was a Burris Farm Market t-shirt. Ok, #1. It is like ten years old #2. It has a terrible fruit basket-ish design on front and equally terrible beach scene on back #3. Who the heck buys a shirt from Burris Farm Market...ummm, ME! (I love up some ice cream and strawberries!) Anyway, I went ahead with the deal and proudly sported that baby all around Branson. After lunch we headed to the Landing for a stroll. I figured the boys would fall asleep, but there were too many interesting things for them to look at. After the Landing, we hit up Home Depot and ran a few other errands. It was a nice, laid back, green day!

Mac's generous $1 tip earned the right to play the keyboard ;)

Thanks music man, you made his day!

This is Drew's first ride in the buggy without his carrier, finally. He loves it already! And there's Mac in the "front-back" of the buggy.

Can you drive anything else but a John Deere on St. Paddy's???

More interested in making faces than watching Mac on the lawn mowers

Home Depot was like tool playground for Mac and Sam. Mac had a blast and definitely felt like he was Handy Manny...safety glasses and all!